The largest opening in most walsl is a doorway. One of the most effective ways to minimize room-to-room noise is to install solid doors, something you can easily do whether you’re remodeling or building.

Standard hollow-core interior doors are poor sound blockers. According to a spokesperson for the National Wood Window & Door Association, “Any one of the particleboard- core, composite-core, or solid-wood doors would work much better at providing a sound barrier than a hollow-core door. But most of the sound doesn’t come through the door, it comes around the door, so you would need to install weatherstripping to provide a seal.”

Rubber bulb weatherstripping gaskets and a weatherstripped threshold should seal the gaps around the perimeter. Of course, solid-core doors are more expensive, but they are also available in a much broader selection of elegant styles.

If you were to replace and weatherstrip an interior door, what would be the result? According to the NWWDA, “If you did all of this, you could probably end up with an STC [Sound Transmission Class] rating of 34–36.”

When planning for new doors and windows, also consider where sound travels. If possible, stagger doors along a hallway and arrange their swing so that they don’t deflect sound into adjoining rooms. Avoid sliding, bi-fold, and pocket doors where noise is a concern; they not only make noise themselves but also don’t seal as well as the swinging type.